A freaky family revelation kills a young woman’s enthusiasm on her birthday and then just plain kills, kills, kills in this wickedly wound fright fest.
It is amazing what the imagination will race to understand when there are weird gaps in a story, even when the storytelling lasts only a matter of minutes. Emily (Maya Bowman) is celebrating her 18th birthday with her family in an oddly too-dark room, her family dutifully congratulates her in a way that seems more like stifled condolences, and possibly a sister inserts one biting remark about the historical “success” of the family. Are they vampires? What is the special gift for the special girl on her special day? And why does it sound like a zombie is outside the window?
As Emily dares to discover her future through a parted curtain, looking at a lone figure standing below the dim street lamp, her mother and father explain, with disorienting joy and abandon, the beauty of her gift. Except that what they presume will take a lifetime to happen comes to pass in less than seven minutes.
Unfortunately, although there are some intriguing elements in the composition of characters, lighting, and dialogue, the ending is a little too similar to a “scary pop-up,” easily found on YouTube or being passed around by friends on Facebook. The concept is worth fleshing out a bit more, but perhaps the short-lived anticipation was exactly the point, even if the frozen zombie man and violently shaking birthday table were oddly incongruent in the film’s conclusion. This film is definitely worth your time; after all, it’s a short. But be cautioned that your satisfaction level might also be the same.
“Special Day” had its U.S. Premiere recently at Fantastic Fest
